HISTORY - IEEE OTTAWA SECTION1 The history of the IEEE in Ottawa is the story of the people and institutions and industries that created one of the largest concentrations of information communications technology in the world. For example, the IEEE Canada Showcase of Canadian Engineering Achievements2 includes the following projects that were based in the Ottawa area, and involved many IEEE members. Radar3, radio4, electronic music5, Telidon6, the Crash Position Indicator7, the Alouette8, Anik9 and ISIS10 satellites, the pacemaker11, and the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory 12. According to the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) “Ottawa boasts the highest percentage of university graduates in Canada and the second largest concentration of science and technology employment of 316 North American cities, surpassed only by California's Silicon Valley”13. The development of the “high tech” community, which some termed “Silicon Valley North” is outlined in the book “Silicon Valley North: A High-Tech Cluster of Innovation and Entrepreneurship”, edited by Larisa V. Shavina14. Institutions Ottawa is the location of a number of Engineering and Scientific Research and Development Institutions in which IEEE members have played a large role.15 These Institutions consist of: • the Communications Research Centre, or CRC, located in the west end of Ottawa; • the Bell Northern Research Laboratories (BNR) located nearby; • the National Research Council16, located in the east end of Ottawa; • Carleton University and The University of Ottawa, each of which has very active programs in electrical engineering, communications and computer technologies; 1 DRAFT version 4.0 D. C. Coll, March 9, 2009, [email protected] 2 http://www.ieee.ca/showcase/index.html 3 http://www.ieee.ca/millennium/radar/radar_about.html 4 http://www.ieee.ca/millennium/radio/radio_about.html 5 http://www.ieee.ca/millennium/electronic_music/em_about.html 6 http://www.ieee.ca/millennium/telidon/telidon_about.html 7 http://www.ieee.ca/millennium/cpi/cpi_about.html 8 http://www.ieee.ca/millennium/alouette/alouette_about.html 9 http://www.ieee.ca/millennium/anik/anik_about.html 10 http://www.ieee.ca/millennium/isis/isis_about.html 11 http://www.ieee.ca/millennium/pacemaker/pacemaker_about.html; NRC 12 http://www.ieee.ca/millennium/neutrino/sno_about.html; Physics Department, Carleton University 13 http://www.lindsayrgwatt.com/archives/old_blog/7_Cap_City__Land_o_Successful_Geeks.html 14 Elsevier, 2004, ISBN 0-08-044457-1 15 Canadian Developments in Telecommunications: An Overview of Significant Contributions, T. L. McPhail and D. C. Coll, eds, The University of Calgary, 1986, ISBN 0-88953-083-1 16 http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/NSERC-CRSNG/History-Historique/index_eng.asp 1 Laboratories CRC17 consists of three Laboratories: the Communications Laboratory, the Electronics Laboratory, and the Radio Physics Laboratory. It originated in the 1950’s as the Defence Research Telecommunications Establishment18, which was the home of extensive ionospheric HF communications research19, which led to advanced HF radio communications systems and through the development of Alouette2021 – a top-side ionospheric sounding satellite - to Canada’s Space Program22; the JANET meteor-burst communications23; one of the very first large-scale transistor test sites: the DRTE computer24; and Telidon25, Canada’s videotex system that led to the NAPLPS standard for videotex and teletext26, and many other projects27. Bell Northern Research Laboratories28 were founded in 1961. Many major innovations in digital telephony and data communications originated at this site.29 Among these were the X.25 DataPac network (circa 1964) 30 and packet switching (1974). Public data communications and ISDN are described in an article by D. E. Sproule entitled “Public Digital Data Communications In Canada: the First 15 Years”, a chapter in “Canadian Developments in Telecommunications: An Overview of Significant Contributions”, edited by T. L. McPhail and D. C. Coll, published by the University of Calgary in 1986. Notes on significant Canadian developments, such as Telidon, cable TV, channel equalization, JANET, and HF communications are presented there as well. A paper by Roy M. Dohoo, long time DRB research manager, on the development of Canadian satellite communications is presented. Elmer Hara reviews the state of fibre optic communications; and Asrar Sheikh, then of Carleton University, described the future of mobile wireless communications. 17 http://www.friendsofcrc.ca/; http://www.crc.gc.ca/en/html/crc/home/home; http://www.crc.gc.ca/en/html/crc/home/mediazone/milestones 18 http://www.friendsofcrc.ca/Foundations.html; http://pubs.drdc.gc.ca/PDFS/unc17/p518800.pdf 19 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?isnumber=4066900&arnumber=4066911&count=16&index=10 20 http://www.ieee.ca/millennium/alouette/alouette_home.html 21 http://www.ewh.ieee.org/reg/7/millennium/alouette/alouette_impact.html 22 http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/schoolzone/Info_Space.cfm 23 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_burst_communications 24 Dirty Gertie: the DRTE computer, Petiot, L., Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE, Volume 16, Issue 2, Summer 1994 Page(s):43 – 52. 25 http://www.friendsofcrc.ca/Projects/Telidon/Telidon.html 26 http://www.spectralumni.ca/CommExpress_pdf/ceapr90es.pdf; http://www.spectralumni.ca/CommExpress_pdf/cejun83e.pdf; http://www.spectralumni.ca/CommExpress_pdf/cemar83e.pdf 27 http://www.wtec.org/loyola/satcom2/e_05.htm 28 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell-Northern_Research; http://www.bink.org/Portfolio/Nortel1.htm; http://www.porticus.org/bell/northern_electric_history.html; http://www.nortel.com/corporate/corptime/; http://www.nortel.com/corporate/corptime/1960.html; http://www.nortel.com/corporate/corptime/past_leadership.html 29 http://www.nortel.com/corporate/technology_new/index.html; 30 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DATAPAC; http://www.rogerdmoore.ca/PS/BNR/BNRnet.html; 2 The Radio and Electrical Division of the National Research Council of Canada (REED/NRC)31 32 was the locale of early work on radar, meteor burst communications, and a host of other related activities. As far as power generation is concerned, Ottawa was the site of the first electric power generation station in Ontario.33 The Ottawa River and its tributaries, particularly the Madawaska River, have continued to provide hydro-electric power to the region343536. Ottawa is also reasonably close to Chalk River, the site of Atomic Energy of Canada’s research station, where the Candu reactors were developed. Universities and Colleges Both Carleton University and the University of Ottawa have strong academic and research programs in IEEE-related fields. As well, both have strong IEEE Student Branches (http://www.ieee.engsoc.org/; http://www.ewh.ieee.org/sb/ottawa/uottawa/, http://www.ewh.ieee.org/sb/ottawa/algonquin/ about_memberships.htm). At Carleton University the academic entities involved include the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering (http://www.sce.carleton.ca/dept/index.shtml) and the Department of Electronics (http://www.doe.carleton.ca/). Prominent Faculty, recognized by the IEEE as Fellows include Professors David Coll, David Falconer, Murray Woodside, and Yiyan Wu in Systems and Computer Engineering and Professors Boothroyd, Copland, and Nakhla in Electronics; while at the School of Information Technology and Engineering at the University of Ottawa (http://www.site.uottawa.ca/eng/index.html), Professors Dubois, Georganas, Mouftah, and Petriu have been so recognized. Algonquin College offers more than 100 full-time programs, including certificates, diplomas, graduate programs and bachelor degrees in applied studies. Our degree programs provide the best of both worlds, combining the practical application of college education with the theoretical and critical foundations of university learning. Programs in the School of Advanced technology include: Bachelor of Applied Technology (Photonics), Computer Programmer, Computer Systems Technology (Networking), Microelectronics Manufacturing, Technical writer, Wireless Mobility Telecommunications Engineering Technology, Computer Engineering Technology (Computer Science), Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technician (Robotics), Geographic Information Systems, and Electrical Engineering Technology. 31 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Research_Council_of_Canada 32 http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/aboutUs/facts_history_e.html 33 http://www.canhydropower.org/hydro_e/p_hyd_a.htm; 34 http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~weinberg/chaudier.html 35http://www.hydroottawaholding.com/holding/site_map/index.cfm?dsp=template&act=view3&template_id=155&l ang=e 36 http://www.opg.com/power/hydro/ottawa_st_lawrence/ 3 Algonquin also offers Collaborative Bachelor of Information Technology degrees in partnership with Carleton University in Interactive Multimedia Design and in Network Technology. IEEE People The IEEE Ottawa Section is the home to many renowned engineers and scientists37. For example, nine of our members have been recipients of the McNaughton Medal. They are John T. Henderson (1969), Robert H. Tanner (1974), John H. Chapman (1970), William J. M. Moore (1991), Nicholas Georganas (2000), and Hussein Mouftah (2006). Bob Tanner38 was with BNR, and was Director of the Canadian Region of IEEE and in 1972 was the first non-US citizen to be President of the IEEE. John Chapman39, who was with DRTE, is recognized as the Father of the Canadian Space Program. Bill Moore40, who worked in NRC on power